Fallen
by Nakama desu
Summary: When Luffy is deprived of his strength and endures sufferings of major mood swings, what will become of the Straw hat crew. Also, what will become of Luffy and Zoro when Zoro is put up to the task of looking after the boy until the effects of a rare sickness wears off? Luffy x Zoro Zolu
1. Two Red Dots

Hi everyone, hope you like the story :) This is chapter 1 of Fallen! Please review, give me feedback on how I can make it better etc. or any suggestions for the next chapter? I have an idea of what's going to happen throughout the whole story but some pointers can't hurt. Thanks for reading!

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"LUFFY!" Zoro yelled as he jumped into the ocean after the said boy. It had been the third time that week that Luffy had fallen overboard and also the third time Zoro dived in after him. Zoro pulled the limp less boy onto the deck of Going Merry. He lay in his subconscious state on the timbre beneath him, dripping from head to toe with water. Head tilt to the side and chest barely moving up and down along with a ragged breath. Zoro knelt down beside the boy and brought his index finger and thumb to his forehead as he rubbed his temples.

"Zoro," Luffy looked up to his first mate. Zoro let out a sigh before making eye contact with the boy,  
"You idiot, how many more times do you need to fall to learn to not hang from the rails?" Luffy frowned and looked away,  
"I'm sorry."

"You bet your sorry ass you should be," Zoro stood and stomped off towards the stairs. Luffy followed his first mate with his eyes as he disappeared from his sight. Luffy propped himself up to lean on his elbow. He bit hard on his tongue before making his way to the kitchen.

"No Luffy, no food till' dinner," Sanji remarked as he saw the boy enter the room,  
"Eh! What happened to you? Why you all wet? Oi! Hold up, no way you're allowed in here like that! Shoo get outa here!" Luffy pulled a face before explaining to the chef that he fell over the rails and into the ocean.

"Well that was pretty bright of you!" Sanji said sarcastically.  
"Dinner will be ready in a few so get yourself cleaned up before then." Luffy nodded and exited the room just as Usopp walked past him. Usopp looked back when they past each other. Usopp frowned,

"What's up with him?" he asked when Luffy wasn't in earshot. Sanji shrugged,  
"Who knows," he brought his cigarette from his mouth and exhaled.  
"Anyway, do you know where Chopper is? I've looked all over the place!"  
"He hasn't come by here as much as I know," the cook said as he placed the cigarette back in between his lips. Usopp nodded slowly and turned back to the door he came from,  
"Ok thanks, tell me if you see him." Sanji grunted in response as the door was slammed shut.

Luffy sat on the fourth step of the stairs still in his drenched clothes. His palm supported his chin and his legs were crossed. The lids of his eyes began to close as he stared blankly into the setting sun. It wasn't often that he spent silent times like these, staring aimlessly at the middle of nowhere.  
"You'll catch a cold if you continue in that state," Zoro commented as he sat beside the boy. The boy raised an eyebrow in question. Zoro gestured to his wet clothes and the boy nodded slowly.

"Dinner will be ready soon, you should clean up or else you'll receive a lashing from the cook." Zoro wasn't wearing his usual outfit, white shirt, green pants and green haramarki. Instead he wore a blue tank shirt and black pants.  
Luffy stood and walked off in the direction of the bathroom. Zoro watched as the boy left his sight. "What's the matter with him?" he murmured under his breath.

"Nami ~Swaaan, Robin ~Chwaaan, dinner's ready! Oi idiots get your ass's over here," Sanji declared as he kicked open the door of the kitchen.  
Zoro stood and headed off to look for Luffy to tell him that dinner was ready. As he headed to the bathroom he walked past Chopper and Usopp who were rushing to the kitchen. He stood at the door and took a breath before knocking on the door.

"Oii, Luffy, dinner's ready," Zoro said as he waited for a reply. No answer.  
"Hello? Luffy? You in there?" Zoro knocked once again and twisted the knob.

"LUFFY!" Zoro ran to the boy's side. He was laying front side up in the bath tub which was filled to the top. His eyes were closed and his head was submerged deep into the tub. Zoro fell to his knees and grasped Luffy's head.

"Oii!" Zoro shook Luffy's head in his hands. When there was no reaction he quickly turned the boy's head to the side to let out the water. He brought the boy closer to his body as he pulled out the plug of the bath allowing the water to flow down the drain. Laying the boy back down he checked his pulse. Nothing. As the water left the tub he interlocked his fingers of both his hands and placed the heel of one to the lower half of Luffy's breastbone. He pressed down firmly and smoothly 30 times before tilting his head back and squeezing his nostrils close with his finger and thumb. He leant in and pressed his lips to Luffy's.

Suddenly the door of the bathroom was burst open to reveal a rather stunned Sanji. Zoro looked up from the intrusion and his eyes widened as he looked back down to see what he was doing.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Zoro quickly pulled back.  
"It's not what it looks like," Zoro said waving his hands in defence. Zoro gasped and returned to the half dead boy. Lifting him up, he ignored the cook and continued the procedure.

Luffy gasped as the air returned to his chest. Zoro sighed and fell to sit on his bottom. Sanji stood bewildered and speechless from the situation and Luffy was just plain confused.  
"What are you guys doing in here?" Zoro just stared at the teenager with a mixture of _are you and idiot_ look and _you've got to be kidding me._

Sanji shook his head before informing the two that dinner was ready. Luffy jumped with happiness and got up from the tub to get changed. Zoro remained seated. His heart was still pounding under his shirt. Sweat forming at the sides of his forehead and hands still a bit shaky. He almost lost his captain and in the end _he_ wasn't even aware of all of it. Zoro didn't even want to begin imagining what he'd feel like if he ever did lose Luffy. In the moment all his thought were placed in saving his best friend, nothing more. But now as he looked back to the incident he can't help but feel a bit shaken and alone.

"Zoro," he looked up, Luffy had his back faced to him and his head turned to the side.  
"You okay?"  
"Ah yeah, yeah," Zoro stood up and shook his thoughts away.  
"Sorry, just daydreaming," he stopped in his tracks.

"Luffy, what's that?" Zoro pointed to the upper right of Luffy's back. Luffy turned and tried to see what his first mate was talking about. He moved across the bathroom till' he was in front of the mirror that sat above the sink. He turned to look at his back through the mirror. There were two red dots lining his right shoulder blade. He turned to look at Zoro who was still standing at the same spot.

Zoro stood by the entrance of Chopper's room watching Luffy being examined by Chopper. The whole time Chopper held a serious and concerned look on his face while Luffy just yawned and sat impatiently. After the examination was over Chopper spoke.

"I've never seen this before but I've heard about it from Doctorine. I remember her telling me about a patient she once looked over and that he had two red dots lining his scapula or shoulder blade in simple terms. The effects include light headedness, decrease of strength and major mood swings. Those two marks are said to be the bite marks of a rare species of snakes. The symptoms can last up to a week or two at the very least. There is no major danger in this but what afraids me the most is Luffy's tendency in creating trouble. If he isn't careful from now on to when the effects wear off he could put his life in danger as well as others around him."

"How do you mean?" Zoro questioned.  
"His strength is being sapped away from him leaving him nearly defenseless and light headedness will prove to be bad if he suddenly collapses anywhere anytime," Chopper explained. Zoro nodded.  
"Not to mention mood swings," Zoro added. Luffy looked to his first mate questioningly but Zoro waved it off.

"So you're telling me we have to deal with Luffy and major mood swings for the next say two weeks? As well as that he won't have as much strength in him and he might collapse any moment?" Zoro nodded. Nami face palmed herself before continuing.  
"Ok Zoro you're in charge of him, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Everyone nodded and started making their way out of the dining room.  
"Hey wait a minute, don't I have any say in this?" Everyone looked back at the swordsman.

"Hey Chopper want to see my new invention?" Usopp continued talking to Chopper as he walked out of the entrance of the room.  
"Sorry Zoro, but out of all of us you're the most suited to the job. Plus you've known Luffy the longest and he listens to whatever you've got to say." Nami patted Zoro on the back and walked to Robin's side.

Zoro sighed. '_These are going to be two very long weeks.'_

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Yay there you go thanks for reading. Reviews will be very much appreciated :)


	2. Dinner

CHAPTER 2! Hey guys thanks for the wait. This is chapter 2 of fallen yay. I hope you like it, sorry if there's any OOCness and if it seems too rushed e.g. gaps and the whole story itself haha. It felt really long when I wrote it so yeah... Ideas! Please! If you have any ideas for the story that you'll think will make the story better please tell me, it will help a lot! And thank you everyone for the reviews, favs, follows and reading really, it means a lot and makes me feel really happy! :D Enjoy!

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"Hey where's Luffy?" Sanji asked as Zoro entered the kitchen.  
"He doesn't feel like eating,"  
"WHAT!" Usopp yelled as he sat up from his seat. Zoro nodded in return. Usopp looked around at everyone before he slowly sat back down.

"Luffy missing out on dinner, that's not something you see every day," Usopp commented taking another scoop of fried octopus and rice. Everyone nodded their heads and grunted in agreement,  
"Oi marimo, tell Luffy he better get his ass over-" Zoro was already out of the door before Sanji could even finish his sentence.  
"Bastard," Sanji said under his breath.

Zoro walked steadily down the stairs with his three swords swinging by his side. He had them with him almost all the time and felt somewhat incomplete when they weren't.

As Zoro stood by the door of the men's bedroom with his hand on the doorknob, he heard faint whimpers and sniffles on the other side. Zoro hesitated for a second before continuing to open the door. When the door was open half way he popped his head inside of the room.

"Luffy?" He called out gently. The room was almost black but he could just make out the shape of Luffy's silhouette. He was sitting with his back faced to Zoro on his hammock and frantically wiping the tears from his face.  
"Are you okay?"

Luffy cleared a lump in his throat and said with a smile on his face and his back still turned to Zoro,  
"Yeah, I'm all good." Zoro frowned. Although the happy joyful tone was still in his voice, although those words sounded so pure and genuine, Zoro knew.

"Luffy, you don't have to lie, you can tell me anything. I won't think anything lower of you even if you cry." Zoro said as he tried to think of something else to say. He knew he wasn't the best when it came to words but he tried nether less. He walked over to Luffy and paused when he stood by his hammock.  
"What's wrong?"

Luffy looked up to Zoro with red shot eyes and tears streaming down his face.  
"I-I don't know!" Luffy exclaimed and burst into tears. Zoro rushed to the boy's side and cautiously placed a hand on the boy's back. After a second he started rubbing up and down Luffy's back.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Zoro said softly as the crying ceased.  
"I don't know, I just suddenly felt this pain in my heart. When you called that it was dinner and when all of you left I-I don't know!" He placed a hand to his chest.

"It hurts," Luffy held his hands up to his face and sobbed. Zoro sat down beside him and patted him on his back.  
"Shhhh, it's okay, I'm here for you," he said with a calm soft voice. Luffy spread out his arms and hugged the swordsman.

Zoro hesitated for a second before embracing the boy.  
"If Zoro's here for me then I'll be okay," Zoro blushed slightly from Luffy's words. He was so shameless and innocent!

"Say, you want to have dinner now?" Zoro asked as Luffy finally calmed down. He nodded and they both walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen. Halfway to the kitchen Zoro said to Luffy,  
"How about you wash your face first before meeting up with the others?"

Luffy gave a questioningly look to his first mate but made no word of it. As they reached the sink of the bathroom, Luffy looked at his reflection through the mirror. He was grateful Zoro suggested to go to the bathroom before heading to the kitchen. His eyes were stunned red and he had light black circles under them. He wouldn't have wanted questioning and concerned looks from his friends. He made quick to wash his face, then met up with Zoro who was leaning against the door of the kitchen.

Zoro gestured for them to head in and opened the door for Luffy. As the door opened they were greeted with the too familiar faces of his crew. He smiled brightly at their appearance and sat at his usual seat beside Zoro. Robin looked over to Luffy and gave him a gentle smile. That smile always seemed to wash away uncertainty in the boy and he too smiled in return. He loved his friends so much. They were so reliable and so unique. They were the best of the best!

"So what happened to you earlier?" Usopp questioned the boy. All eyes landed on Luffy.  
"I was feeling a bit sick," Luffy said as he rubbed the back of his head with a slight embarrassed smile.  
"Ehhh! You were feeling sick Luffy? We need a doctor! Where's a doctor!" Chopper screamed as he ran in circles.

"YOU ARE A DOCTOR!" Usopp yelled back calming the little reindeer.  
"Oh that's right,"  
"Don't worry, I'm feeling all better now," Luffy said with his usual happy grin. Everyone smiled back and returned to their food.

"Here you go Luffy," Sanji said as he placed a plate full of food in front of the captain.  
"Here's yours shitty swordsman,"  
"Dartbrow,"  
"WHAT'D YOU SAY!" Sanji bellowed as he stamped his foot down onto the table.

"Sanji-kun, Zoro, no fighting," Nami cooed with a strong firm voice.  
"Yes Nami-san, sorry for causing any disturbances for you," Sanji swooned as he did his noodle dance.  
"Ero-cook," Zoro said with a straight face as he took a scoop from his food. Sanji's eyebrow twitched but he put on a fake smile and smiled to Zoro. Whereas Luffy just sat there laughing about the whole situation with his unique laugh.

As it neared midnight, everyone was already deep in sleep minus Zoro and Luffy. Luffy sat at his hammock and Zoro lied in his.  
"It's dark," Luffy whispered. Zoro grunted and turned over to face the boy. Luffy stood up and walked over to the swordsman.

"Zoro," Luffy was at Zoro's hammock.  
"Can I sleep with you?" Zoro looked up to see Luffy's face. Although it was dark he could sense the boy was frowning. Zoro shifted over to one side of his hammock to make space for Luffy.  
"Sure thing buddy," Zoro replied after a few seconds.

The two just fit on the hammock. Luffy had his legs and arms tucked in front of him almost resembling a ball. And Zoro had his fingers interlocked underneath his head as a pillow.

2 days has passed since the beginning of Luffy's mood swings. Yesterday he was super hyperactive and jumping all over the place. It took a lot of work to settle the boy down and it started to become stressful even, but during all of that, everyone enjoyed the happy grin he wore. The grin he wore that reassured everyone that everything was okay, the one that even made people turn from sad to happy.

The day before though, he was whingeing and complaining almost the whole time that was just plain annoying. Everyone now and then between the last few days he was either sympathetic, silent, angry, gloomy, devious, anxious and confused.

Today, Luffy's mood dropped from lazy to thankful to shocked at everything and then sad and lonely.

It was a peaceful night that night, silent yet calming at the same time. Both Zoro and Luffy lied peacefully in the same hammock.

"Zoro?" Luffy spoke after a long silence.  
"Hmm?"  
"Would you ever leave me?"  
"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?"

"I had a dream where everyone left, one by one. First it was Usopp, then Nami, Sanji, Robin, Chopper and finally you." Luffy's voice was soft and Zoro almost missed the last part he had said.  
"Luffy, I would never leave you, not in a thousand years," Zoro spoke truthfully, Luffy was his best friend, he entrusted his life to Luffy and he would do anything for him. He will become the future Pirate King, no question about it and he too will become the best swordsman in the world alongside his captain.

Luffy smiled and pulled himself closer into a ball,  
"Ok,"

"Now let's go to sleep ok? You have nothing to worry about. I'll be here right by your side,"  
"Thank you Zoro, goodnight,"  
"Good night Luffy,"

"Zoro?" Zoro sighed,  
"What is it Luffy?"  
"I need to pee."

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Okay! Thank you so much for reading guys! I hope you liked it! Sorry if it was boring :( I read it over and I was like uhhhh. Sorry for ending it like this, I thought i could put in a bit of humour to it i don't know. Anyway stay tuned next chapter _hopefully_ coming up next week. Reviews will be nice :) It helps motivates me and I love to hear what you guys have to say. :) Bye and I'll see you next time! ;D


	3. Hurt

Hey people! This is CHAPTER 3 of Fallen. Sorry for the long wait, I'll try to update sooner next time. Thank you for reading up, I'm loving all the favs and follows also I'm very greatful for the reviews :) You guys are awesome! Thank you and enjoy!

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The door to the bathroom opened as Luffy exited the room. Luffy had insisted the swordsman to come with him to the toilet. It was as if he'd gone straight back to grade 1 all over again.

"Anything else?" Zoro asked with his arms crossed over the other. Luffy shook his head and laughed his unique laugh with a grin on his face. As they walked along the cool timbre floor Luffy pulled himself closer Zoro and grabbed a hold of his arm. Zoro looked over to the boy but shrugged it off as one of his weird personality changes because of his mood swings.

Luffy shivered and clung tighter to Zoro's arm.  
"It's cold," Luffy said through chattering teeth. Zoro grunted and ruffled up Luffy's hair and smiled gently at him. Luffy looked up and blushed and turned to face the other direction avoiding his first mates eye contact. It was unusual for Zoro to smile like that but he did on occasions, it was nice and comforting.

As the two made their way down the path to the men's bedroom the cool breeze of the night swept past them earning a surprised squeal from the smaller boy. Zoro instinctively pulled the boy Luffy closer towards him and continued walking. Luffy blushed madly and hesitated for a second before hugging the waist of Zoro.

It was a cold night.

~Next morning~

When Luffy awoke that morning he found himself sleeping in Zoro's hammock alone. As he yawned and stretched his tired body he looked around the room for any presence. Sadly he found none, the room was entirely empty. As he took a step out of the hammock he concluded that the rest of the crew were already sitting for breakfast. As for why no one called for him to wake up, he knew of no reason.

When he took the path to the kitchen he noticed the brightness of the sky. Luffy frowned, it was awfully bright for it to be early morning, it looked as if it was already 11. He usually only slept till 8:30 maximum, but it wasn't so unusual for him to wake up rather late.

When he made his way to the kitchen he opened the door to be greeted to with an empty room. Luffy frowned once again. He searched the ship up and down to no prevail. His shoulders slumped as he dragged himself back to the men's bedroom. His stomach grumbled from hunger and he held a hand up to rub his tummy. He looked back from where he was heading, the kitchen still in his view, he argued whether he should turn back and grab something to eat first.

He shook his head and continued to walk to the men's bedroom. That was the only place he hasn't looked thoroughly. As he thought he found a piece of paper lying on his hammock. A note left by Nami his navigator indicating that the crew had went on without him to search the land they had landed on just this morning.

They had landed on an island? Luffy asked himself. He dismissed the piece of paper letting it drop from his hand and reach the floor as he rushed out of the door. When he was outside in the clear he smiled brightly and energetically. They had indeed landed on an island. He laughed at himself internally, he can't believe he had missed it when he was outside just moments ago. The green lushes forest could be seen from afar, a beautiful beach just ahead and a well built town just further ahead.

He pressed himself up against the railing of Going Merry and admired the view before taking a deep breath with a grin and jumping off the side. He could smell a hint of adventure and he liked it.

He ran across the sandy floor heading for the town that lied further north. He was hungry, extremely hungry and in search of a restaurant before further exploration of the island.

Luffy took it upon himself to search for his crew as well, so they would not worry about him if they came back to the ship and he was absent.

Luffy strolled through the path of the town. It was rather lively for such a small island, several stores stood on either side of the path and civilians filled each and every corner. It was just enough to make Luffy not want to shove people out of the way to get past.

As the day wore on and a restaurant still not sighted, Luffy's stomach grumbled loudly and he patted his poor belly. Not only was he hungry he was now thirsty. He swallowed a lump in his throat and stuck out his tongue in need for hydration. It didn't help that he had to drag his feet across the dirt path. He had been walking for who knows how long and the sun was glaring at his back. He was of need of rest, food and water.

His eyes sparkled though as he sighted ahead of him on the never ending path a store which sold ramen. He drooled a bit before rushing over with excitement to the said store.

Behind the counter stood a large buff man with black hair combed behind his ear and huge black eyes and a scar running down his forehead.

His arms crossed over on his chest and he bore an intimidating look on his face. It had no effect on the boy whatsoever.  
"Food, food, food, hurry, hurry, hurry!" Luffy exclaimed repeatedly with his hands banging on the table.

The man also had a cigarette hanging from his mouth, he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled a heap of smoke before placing the bud back in. He ran his hand through his slick black hair and took a step back before opening a door behind him and disappearing into the midst.

The straw hat pirate waited impatiently and groaned from boredom and hunger for the time it took for the man to arrive with his food.

Several minutes passed and finally the man came back with a large steaming bowl full of hot delicious smelling ramen. The bowl was filled to the top with medium thick noodles and a lot of slices of meat along with a beautiful brown soup. Luffy drooled from the scent and look and grinned happily as the man placed the bowl in front of the boy.

"Itadakimasu!" The boy exclaimed before taking the chopsticks and digging in. It only took him a few minutes to finish eating and he was definitely satisfied.

When it was time to pay up however, it was a hit and run. The shopkeeper was definitely not happy as the boy explained that he was empty handed and had no money. This time it took a while for Luffy to shake off the man. When he finally did, Luffy was full of laughter and had to pause to catch his breath.

He decided to explore the place and continued walking around. When he turned the next corner however, he spotted a certain someone who adorned green hair similar to a marimo.

Luffy stopped and pulled himself back, just to peak around the corner of the wall when he noticed he was talking to a certain blonde girl who was both slender and beautiful to the eye. She smiled brightly to Zoro as did Zoro smiled gently and peacefully to her.

Luffy didn't know why he stopped to hide. It was just instinct. He watched the two for a while before the girl waved a hand and brought herself closer to Zoro. She took a step forward and… They kissed. Not on the lips but on the cheek. She kissed him on the cheek. Not on the lips but on his cheek.

Even though Luffy knew and said this to himself repeatedly, he couldn't help but feel hurt slightly. He brought up a hand to his chest. It was pained. He had to look away. As he did he gasped and ran away holding his breath as to not cry. He ran and ran as far as he possibly could. Away from the world, away from everything.

It was not like him to run away from situations that were tough, but just this once, he didn't understand anything and it was painful for strange reasons he didn't know of. So he ran.

As time dragged on, the sun was starting to set and the moon shone above Luffy as he lay with his back pressed against a tree in the beautiful forest. He was lost, he had no idea of the whereabouts of the ship, but he was certain he'd find his way back so he didn't panic.

He sighed heavily, and tried to pace out his breathing evenly. His heart was still beating at a rapid pace and he didn't know why. As he remembered the exchange between Zoro and that girl his heart felt like it had received a sharp pained twist.

Luffy frowned and snuggled into a ball.

Everything hurt.

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YOOOOOO! How'd you like it? Good or no? I decided to put a bit of angst to the story. I hope I did well :) Reviews please, tell me how I did, also fav and follow :) It makes me happy and more motivated to update sooner! Next chapter coming soon like maybe next week or the week after or the week after.. Sorry for this late update it took me a while to actually motivate myself to write, I have school and a bunch of assessment due this week but I couldn't be bothered doing them so I wrote this instead... Hahhaa Yay procrastination, don't you love it :D Anway thank you, please stay tuned for next chapter and I love you guys so much, thank you for being patient and awesome. Till we meet again, BYE!


	4. Fallen

HELLO EVERYONE!

Unfortunately this will be the last chapter of Fallen. :o I'd like to say thank you for all the reviews, favs, follows and all of you reading up until now, it makes me sooo happy :D

Also shadowmarialove that's cheating, you reviewed 3 times :P hahah jks and yeah I am a jerk I'm sorry :3 And Consience of Yaoi please don't die, here's the next chapter!

It's been really fun typing this and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it :D Maybe I'll consider writing some more but only until I can think of anymore ideas :3 Thank you so much you've been great and enjoy!

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"LUFFY!" Zoro screamed the boy's name as he rushed to the ocean. The boy was laying front side down into the shallow water of the beach. His hat laid perfectly by his side and his face was buried deep into the water. Zoro kneeled and dipped his hands into the water, it was cold. He lifted up the boy from the water and dragged him to dry surface right side up. As he positioned him he noticed the paleness to his face and slight blue lips. There were small wrinkles up and down his skin signalling he has been in the water for quite some time.

"DAMMIT!" Zoro yelled as he proceeded to use CPR on the boy before he was a loss cause. Zoro's heart beat thumped loudly under his chest, his hands were shaky but firm when he placed a hand on Luffy's wet chest after he unbuttoned the red vest. Goose bumps covered the pale bare skin and small droplets of water fell off the side of his chest and abdomen.

He knew he shouldn't have gone off on his own, he knew he should've stayed by Luffy's side. Even though he knew full well that Luffy was under a certain condition where he could collapse anywhere, anytime, he still left him on his own. Luffy was doing well the last couple of days and he thought it wouldn't have been a big of a deal. Even though Nami had warned him just to stay cautious…

A couple hours later in a small room Luffy stirred awake. He lifted himself from the bed. Wait a bed? How did he get here in the first place? What happened? The last thing he remembered was walking along the coast of the beach and…

The rest of his memories were hazy and not distinct. He shook it off and tried to remember before then.

After an hour passed of silence in the forest, Luffy stood. His tears had dried and his heart beat steadied. It was getting dark, almost dawn. He decided it would be best not to worry his crew and head back to the ship wherever it was.

As he walked aimlessly for long minutes he saw an opening through the forest that led to the beach. He smiled gently and proceeded to walk in that very direction. A glimmer sparkled at the corner of his eye. That had certainly caught the curious boy's attention.

As he turned to see what it was he noticed it was gold and floating in the water far off into the ocean. Not too far that he wouldn't be able to reach it but passed the shallow waters.

He shrugged it off and walked into the ocean. Immediately as his feet touched the water, he felt his energy being sapped away from him. A small gasp came from the boy but nether less it didn't stop him from walking further in.

If it weren't for the two red dots on his back and the fact that he easily lost his energy, he wouldn't have collapsed suddenly, his legs failing on him and all. But because he did have two dots on his back and he could collapse any moment, he did fall. He fell into the depths of the ocean, the depths of the shallow water of the ocean that is. But struck his head on the ground so that had caused some damage.

Luffy touched his forehead, there was a bandage wrapped around it securely and tightly. As his vision cleared some more he registered he was in Chopper's doctor room or whatever it's called.

Luffy opened the door to a surprised Zoro who had his hand up half way in the process of knocking on the door. Zoro's face broke into a frown as he embraced the boy.  
"Luffy," Zoro said softly behind the boy's head.

Luffy froze, his mind went back to time he saw the meeting between Zoro and the blonde girl. A few seconds passed until he came back to reality. He shook his head suddenly as in to wake himself from his thoughts and pushed Zoro back, a bit too roughly. Zoro looked to the boy in confusion. But Luffy just walked off leaving no words behind or a look over.

Not a single word was spoken during dinner that night. Everyone just stared down at their plate and minded their own business. Nobody liked the situation but something was going on between Zoro and Luffy. Luffy wasn't sitting in his usual position next to Zoro, rather the furthest away and where he didn't have to look at him.

Luffy was definitely not his usual self, no smile on his usually cheerful face, no energy and no stealing of other people's food. In fact he hardly touched his own food! No appetite? Who ever knew there was such a time Luffy would reject food let alone not touch it.

Everyone sat in silence as the time wore on and finally Luffy stood up and walked out of the room. Nami exhaled heavily as if she'd been holding her breath the entire time. The crew looked at each other for any ideas of why Luffy was acting that way and finally all eyes rested on Zoro. Zoro obviously not liking the attention just shrugged his shoulders in defence and took his leave.

Luffy sat on the head of Going Merry. It was a beautiful night and the stars shined brightly ahead. A cool breeze in the air and a beautiful full moon shone magnificently above all else.

Zoro walked over to the boy and stood several metres behind. A few minutes passed, yet nothing was said. They just both stared into the night sky, no awkwardness whatsoever, but rather peace.

"Who was she?" Zoro looked at the boy, he didn't expect him to speak so abruptly and certainly not with a question like so.

"What?"

"I saw you with a girl today, she had blonde hair in a long ponytail. Who was she?"

"Just an old friend," Luffy turned and looked straight into Zoro's eyes. His eyes were strong and firm, filled with meaning and felt as if it would pierce straight through his body. Zoro flinched.

"I saw you two kiss, is that what old friends do with each other?" Luffy felt his heart sink with each and every word that left his mouth in that moment, "I saw you two kiss," he repeated, not necessarily for Zoro but for himself.

Zoro sighed and a smile lit up his face.

"Is this what you've been caught up on these past few hours? It was just a small friendly peck on the cheek, that was all, it had no meaning, and was just the means of saying goodbye," Luffy hesitated momentarily before speaking up, "Still…" he trailed with mumbles under his breath as he turned his head away from Zoro in embarrassment.

"You're being unreasonable here, plus why would it concern you if anyone tries to kiss me?" Luffy blushed brightly, Zoro noticed and blushed as well.

_'No way' _Zoro thought to himself.

"Uhhhhh I'll be right back I need to go to the toilet," Luffy excused himself and jumped off the head of Merry. As Luffy sped past Zoro he grabbed his arm to stop him. However because Luffy is rubber, instead it just pulled on his arm.

"Hey, get back here, don't just dodge the question and run away!"

Luffy stopped in his tracks, he knew he was being unfair but what could he say?

"You know, you really scared me today. Finding you all of a sudden in the midst of the ocean, pale as white and as wrinkly as a shrimp," Luffy' frowned and his eyes questioned the swordsman.

"Who knows how long you've been there and plus the fairly large bump on your head," Luffy looked up and touched his forehead. "And when you finally awake the first thing you do after I go for a hug is what? Not to mention dinner, you purposely distanced yourself from me. Stop being stubborn and admit you were wrong, don't you think you're being unfair?"

Luffy nodded softly but didn't bring his eyes to meet Zoro's. Zoro still held a grip on Luffy's arm.

"You should have more faith in me, and don't ever do that again, you worried everyone so much, we weren't even sure you'd make it. If it weren't for Chopper's expertize…" he left his sentence hanging.

"I'm sorry," Luffy had his head faced down looking straight to the ground, "I'm sorry," he repeated. Zoro pulled in Luffy's arm till Luffy was only centimetres away.

Zoro lifted Luffy's face by the chin with his one finger. He smiled gently at the boy before leaning forward.

And hugged the boy. "I love you," Luffy whispered in Zoro's ear. Zoro blushed bright red and Luffy escaped from the embrace and grinned widely at Zoro's face. He then turned and went up to the rails of the ship.

He held onto the rails and smiled as he placed his hat that was hanging on a string around his neck onto his head. A glimmer caught the corner of his eye and he leant forward to look to see what it was.

"LUFFY!" Zoro yelled as the boy fell over the rails with a splash into the ocean.

Nami giggled softly along with Robin who chuckled in amusement. They had both witnessed the exchange between the captain and first mate. Sanji flickered a lighter with one leg pressed behind him on a wall he was leaning on.

"Ok, you win, 1000 berries was it?"

"Yep!"

"I love you too," Zoro whispered to the boy as he laid him on the deck. He moved a stray hair from Luffy's forehead and kissed it ever so gently.

* * *

HEYYY! Hope you liked it, also stay tuned, possibly more chapters in the future ;) THANK YOU! AND BYE FOR NOW!


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